GR-.    568 


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4tX20 


Duke  University  Libraries 


D03212467P 


MINOUITY  REPORT 

CV   THE 

COMMITTEE  ON  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS, 

PRESENTED  BY  MR.  S:>IITII,  OF  ALABAMA. 


The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Committee  of  Foreign  AQaira,  to 
which  was  referred  certain  resolutions  introduced  into  the  llouss, 
touching  the  propriety  of  "  recalling  our  Commissioners  to  foreign 
powers,  and  of  expelling  those  persons  acting  within  the  limits  of  tho 
Confederate  States  as  Foreign  Consuls,"  not  being  able  to  agree  with 
the  majority  of  the  said  Committee,  and  being  unwilling  to  endorse 
their  report,  beg  leave  to  present  this  minority  report. 

As  it  seems  to  us  that  the  report  of  the  majority  reflects  by  impli- 
cation upon  the  President  of  the  Confederate  States,  and  upon  t!ie 
Secretary  of  State,  the  undersigned  deem  it  due  to  themselves  and  to 
the  House,  to  refer  to  such  portions  of  the  documents  laid  before  the 
Committee  as  will  serve  to  place  the  subject  in  its  proper  light  before 
ihe  House. 

In  order  that  the  Committee  might  be  enabled  to  act  most  advisedly 
on  the  subject,  the  House  at  the  Committee's  request  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions : 

Besolvcd,  That  the  President  be  respectfully  requested,  if  not  in- 
compatible with  the  public  interest,  to  communicate  to  this  House  the 
number  and  names  of  all  persons  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  Con- 
federate States  in  foreign  countries,  cither  as  diplomatic,  consular  or 
commercial  agents,  or  in  any  other  capacity,  stating  the  places  to 
which  they  have  been  sent,  the  date  of  their  appointment,  the  salaries 
they  receive,  the  duties  they  are  expected  to  discharge,  and  how  far 
they  have  been  officially  or  otherwise  recognized  by  any  foreign  Gov- 
ernment, Also  the  number  and  character  of  foreign  agents,  whether 
consular,  commercial  or  other,  known  to  our  Government,  representing 
in  any  capacity  foreign  Governments  within  the  limits  of  the  Confed- 
erate States,  and  whether  in  communicating  with  this  Government, 
they  do  so  under  an  exequatur  from  our  own  Government  or  that  of 
the  United  States,  and  whether  they  arc  subordinate  or  subject  to  the 


2 

control  and  direction  in  any  way,  and  to  -what  degree,  of  the  ministers 
of  their  respective  countries,  accredited  to,  and  residing  in  the  United 
States. 

The  President  is  further  respectfully  requested  to  communicate  such 
instruction  as  may  have  been  given  our  foreign  agent?,  and  such  cor- 
respondence as  may  have  been  had  ^uth  other  Governments,  cither 
through  the  Secretary  of  State  or  our  Commissioners  abroad,  as  will 
aid  Congress  in  its  legislation  regarding  foreign  nations,  and  their  cit- 
izens residing  in  our  midst." 

In  response  to  these  resolutions,  the  President  submitted  to  the 
House  an  ansAver,  consisting  of  a  vast  amount  of  information,  which 
was  referred  to  the  Committee,  and  by  them  examined.  This  answer 
was  deemed  unsatisfactory  by  the  majority  of  the  Committee,  as  shown 
by  their  report.  The  complaint  of  the  majority  seems  to  be  based 
upon  the  idea  that  the  answers  to  the  resolutions  are  not  sufficiently 
full  and  explicit.     Let  us  examine  this  objection. 

The  House  resolutions  called  only  for  such  information  as  could  be 
communicated  not  incompatible  with  the  public  interest. 

Who  is  to  be  the  judge — who  is  to  decide  what  statements  should  be 
made  public  ;  certainly  not  the  House  nor  the  Committee,  but  the 
President  and  his  adviser,  the  Secretary  of  State.  According  to  the 
theory  upon  which  our  Government  is  based,  the  Secretary  of  State 
stands  at  the  head  of  the  Cabinet.  He  is  the  President's  chief  ad- 
viser. He  is  the  keeper  of  the  secrets  of  the  State,  and  to  his 
■enlightened  judgment  is  committed  the  important  discretion  of  pub- 
lication. 

The  President  was  advised  by  the  terms  of  the  resolutions,  not  to 
■  communicate  anything,  the  publication  of  which  would,  in  his 
opinion,  be  incompatible  with  the  public  interest.  And  thus,  by  the 
legitimate  interpretation  of  the  resolutions  themselves,  he  was  bound 
to  conclude,  that  whatever  he  did  communicate,  might  be  made  public 
at  the  discretion  of  the  House. 

We  admit  and  claim,  that  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs  is  en- 
titled to  the  confidence  of  the  President,  but  not  to  an  unlimited  ex- 
tent; and  we  do  not  believe  that  any  Committee  of  this  House  has 
a  right  to  demand  from  him  the  possession  of  State  secrets,  when, 
in  his  opinion,  these  secrets  ought  not  to  be  made  public. 

The  Committee  did  not  request  the  Information  aa  a  Committee. 
The  inquiry  was  preferred  by  the  House ;  and,  whatever  information 
the  answer  might  have  disclosed,  must,  under  the  resolutions,  be  given 
to  the  House;  and  the  House  could  publish  or  not,  as  a  majority 
might  determine.  And  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  that  the  inquiry  it- 
self was  upon  a  subject,  which,  from  its  very  nature,  belongs  less  to 
the  House  than  to  the  President  and  the  Senate.  Diplomacy  is  a 
peculiar  science;  its  very  life  is  secrecy.  It  should  always  be  crowned 
with  the  Helmet  of  Pluto,  "  which  maketh  the  politic  man  go  invisi- 
ible." 

The  report  of  the  majority,  thougli  guarded  and  courteous  in  its 
phraseology,  is  nevertheless  a  complaint  that  the  President  has  not 
communicated  all  the  facts  requested.     We  come  to  this  conclusion 


from  the  expressions  of  regret  that  it  contains,  and  its  attempted  ar- 
gument, that,  in  making  the  inquiry,  the  House  had  not  desired  to 
trench  upon  the  peculiar  province  of  the  Senate,  nor  had  transcended 
its  own  powers. 

Here  is  the  argument  of  the  majority :  *'  This  House  in  no  way 
transcends  its  powers,  when  it  seeks  of  the  Executive  through  the 
proper  channel,  a  knowledge  not  only  of  the  number  and  names  of 
our  diplomatic  agents,  but  also  a  statement  of  the  fact,  Avhether  con- 
sular or  commercial  agents  have  been  sent  abroad,  and  if  so,  to  what 
countries  ;  and  whether  they  have  been  permitted  by  the  governments 
to  which  they  have  been  sent,  to  exercise  the  customary  powers  of 
such  agents,  or  have  been  forced  to  forego  entirely  the  discharge  of 
the  very  important  duties  pertaining  to  such  appointments,  and  made 
to  occupy  the  character  of  extraordinary,  or  special,  or  secret  agents." 

If,  by  the  use  of  the  word  ^'powers"  in  the  foregoing  extract,  we 
are  to  understand  that  it  occupies  the  placrj  of  a  synonym  to  the 
word  '^  right,"  we  do  not  admit  the  proposition, — the  very  contrary 
is  true.  In  this  connection,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  resolu- 
tion of  inquiry  requested  the  President  to  communicate  the  "  number 
and  names  of  all  persons  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  Confederate 
States  in  foreign  countries,  either  as  diplomatic,  consular,  or  commer- 
cial agents,  or  in  any  othe7-  capacity,  stating  the  places  to  which  they 
have  been  sent,  the  date  of  their  appointments,  the  salaries  they  re- 
ceive, the  duties  they  are  expected  to  discharge,  and  how  far  they 
have  been  officially  or  otherwise  recognized  by  any  foreign  govern- 
ment." 

This  argument  of  the  majority  that  the  House  has  not  transcended 
its  power  must  be  held  to  embrace  the  foregoing  broad  and  sweeping 
interrogatory. 

As  a  political  proposition  it  is  certainly  true  that  every  Government 
has  the  undoubted  right,  especially  in  times  of  war,  to  have  secret  di- 
plomatic, commercial  ind  consular  agents.  If  the  Government  had 
this  undoubted  right,  it  cannot  be  deprived  of  it  by  any  one  of  its  co-or- 
dinate brandies.  It  is  impossible  that  the  Government  and  one  branch 
of  the  Congress  should  have  the  same  "  power,"  if  the  existence  of 
the  one  is  inconsistent  with  the  existence  of  the  other;  and  for  a  Gov- 
ernment to  reveal  the  names,  number  and  functions  of  its  secret 
agents,  is  at  once  to  destroy  that  power,  for  they  would  no  longer  be 
secret  agents. 

Many  of  the  commercial,  diplomatic  and  other  agents  now  abroad, 
were  appointed  in  the  first  year  of  the  Government,  under  the  strictest 
secrecy ;  and  Congress  have  repeatedly  recognized  the  power  of  the 
Government  to  have  secret  agents,  and  has  endorsed  their  appoint- 
ment by  appropriating  money  for  the  payment  of  their  salaries. 

It  will  be  seen  by  an  examination  of  the  communication  that  the 
Secretary  has  given  the  names  and  localities  of  our  principal  diplo- 
matic agents,  together  with  his  instruction  to  them  ;  but  that  he  has 
not  communicated  all  the  names,  localities  and  functions  of  others 
than  the  diplomatic  agents.  And  the  Secretary  says  that :  "  It  would- 
be  impossible  to  communicate  to  the  House  without  great  detriment  to. 


4 

the  public  interest,  the  names  and  number  of  all  persons  engaged  in 
tho  service  of  the  Confederate  States  in  foreign  countries,  either  as 
diplomatiq,  commercial  or  consular  agents,  or  in  any  other  capacity, 
stating  the  places  to  which  they  have  been  sent,  the  date  of  their  ap- 
pointment, the  salaries  they  receive,  the  duties  which  they  are  expect- 
ed to  discharge." 

On  this  subject  tlie  Secretary  adds  :  '^  During  the  pendency  of  hos- 
tilities the  very  objects  for  which,  other  than  diplomatic  agents  have 
been  sent  abroad  would  be  exposed  to  defeat  by  divulging  the  details 
called  for  in  the  resolutions;  and  tliose  objects  are  of  great  national 
importance." 

The  undersigned  recognize  the  force  of  those  observations. 

Can  it  be  supposed  that  a  Government  whose  pride  it  has  been  to 
develop  its  mightiest  energies  in  the  prosecution  of  this  war  of  sub- 
jugation at  home, could  have  failed  to  have  established  abroad  a  system 
of  espionage  with  detectives  to  track  our  foreign  agents  and  to  thwart 
their  enterprises  ?  We  may  well  suppose,  on  the  contrary,  that  wher- 
ever a  ship  may  be  built  or  purchased,  wherever  a  gun  or  a  pound  of 
powder  may  be  obtained,  there  are  the  agents  of  the  United  States  to 
be  found.  Experience  has  proven  this  ;  and  Avherever  abroad,  South- 
ern sympathy  exists,  there  in  particular  this  swarm  of  secret  emissa- 
ries may  be  supposed  to  congregate.  Would  not  a  revelation  of  the 
number,  names  and  functions  of  our  secret  agents,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, endanger  the  success  of  their  respective  missions. 

And  shall  the  Secretary  of  State  be  expected  the  step  aside  from 
his  high  duty,  even  to  answer  the  most  solemn  enquiry  of  a  Congres- 
sional Committee,     We  think  not. 

Among  the  many  subjects  of  interest  which  the  communication  of 
the  Secretary  of  State  discloses,  we  quote  passages  from  the  letters  of 
Commissioners  Mason  and  Slidell,  beiiring  especially  upon  the  subject 
of  the  original  resolutions.  Upon  the  subject  of  recognition,  Mr. 
Mason  says:  "  I  am  in  full  and  frequent  communication  here  with 
many  able  and  influential  membei's  of  the  House  of  Commons,  who 
confer  with  me  in  perfect  frankness  and  candor,  and  who  are  prepared 
to  move  the  question  in  the  House,  whenever  it  may  be  found  expe- 
dient, but  in  the  attitude  of  parties  here,  (meaning  the  Ministerial 
and  Opposition,)  as  the  Ministry  will  not  move,  it  is  not  deemed  pru- 
dent to  enable  it  to  make  the  question  an  issue  with  the  opposition, 
and  so,  motions  that  have  been  projected,  ^  hang  jire?'''' 

'•As  far  as  the  public  is  concerned,  all  agree  that  there  has  been  a 
complete  change  in  sentiment  as  the  war  goes  on.  Both  my  own  in- 
tercourse— which  is  becoming  large — and  information  derived  from  all- 
quarters,  satisfy  me  that  the  educated  and  enlightened  classes  are  in 
full  sympathy  with  us,  and  are  becoming  impatient  at  the  supineness 
of  the  government." 

Mr.  Slidell  says,  speaking  of  his  interview  with — :  *'  In  re- 
ply to  my  suggestions,  that  the  war  could  only  be  brought  to  a  close- 
by  the  intervention  of  European  Powers,  which  should  be  preceded  by 
our  recognition,  and  a  renewed  proffer  of  mediation,  he  said,  that 
*  France  could  not  act  without  the  co-operation  of  England,'  but  that 


5 

-within  the  last  few  dayj  there  seemed  to  be  a  change  in  the  tone  of 
the  English  Cabinet ;  that  if  New  Orleans  had  not  fallen,  our  recog- 
nition could  not  have  been  much  longer  delayed  ;  but  that  oven  nfter 
that  disaster,  if  ive  obtained  decided  successes  ni  Virginia  and  Tennessee, 
or  could  hold  the  enemy  at  hay  a  month  or  tico,  the  same  result  Avould 
follow/' 

Mr.  Mason  also  refers  to  this  opinion,  that  if  New  Orleans  had  not 
fallen,  our  recognition  would  not  have  been  much  longer  delayed. 

Thus,  the  undersigned  show,  through  this  correspondence,  that  the 
state  of  things  now  actually  exist  in  this  country,  which,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  our  Commissioners,  would  have  probably  secured  our  recogni- 
tion in  England  and  France :  for  we  have  not  only  kept  the  enemy  at 
bay  a  month  or  two,  but  have  obtained  decided  successes  in  Virginia 
and  Tennessee.  If  the  fall  of  New  Orleans  prevented  recognition, 
as  we  are  bound  to  believe  from  the  opinions  of  our  Commissioners, 
may  we  not  now  expect  such  a  reaction  in  the  minds  of  European 
Powers  as  will  produce  the  best  feeling  in  our  behalf  ?  To-day;  while 
we  are  discussing  the  propriety  of  recalling  our  Commissioners,  it 
may  be,  that  the  French  and  British  Cabinets,  driven  by  our  recent 
glorious  victories,  have  already  decreed  our  recognition. 

What  is  the  fall  of  New  Orleans,  disastrous  as  it  was,  when  we  have 
driven  off  a  vast  beleaguering  army  from  the  precincts  of  our  Capital, 
and  pursued  the  fugitives  to  their  gates. — When  Washington  and  not 
Richmond  is  threatened;  when  a  veteran  army,  crowned  with  twenty 
successive  victories,  and  led  by  Generals  whose  fame  is  yet  unsullied 
by  a  single  defeat,  triumphantly  erect  their  standards  in  the  valleys 
and  on  the  hills  of  an  amazed  and  discomfited  enemy. — If  after  such 
developments  as  these,  such  demonstrations  of  an  ability  to  maintain 
our  own  independence,  the  Courts  of  Europe  should  still  stubbornly 
refuse  to  proclaim  our  rights,  and  to  invite  us  to  participate  upon 
terms  of  perfect  equality  at  their  diplomatic  boards,  that  policy  which 
would  be  petulance  in  us  now,  may  wejl  assume  the  majestic  propor- 
tions of  national  indignation ;  and  Christendom  would  then  applaud 
a  resolution  on  our  part,  to  scorn  those  nations  which  had  too  sullenly 
denied  our  association. 

As  to  the  merits  of  that  part  of  the  original  resolution  referring 
to  our  Commissioners,  the  undersigned  are  of  opinion  that  we  have 
done,  as  a  nation,  precisely  as  we  ought  to  have  done. — Guided  by  the 
custom  of  ages,  we  sent  Commissioners  abroad  to  proclaim  that  we  had 
dissolved  the  political  bands  that  connected  us  with  the  United  States, 
and  that  we  claimed  a  place  amongst  the  Independent  Powers  of 
the  Earth. 

This  we  did  with  modesty  and  dignity;  to  send  other  Commission- 
ers would  be  unbecoming,  and  to  recall  those  we  have  already  sent, 
would  be  an  exhibition  of  impatience  which  the  world  would  interpret 
as  petulance. 

In  regard  to  persons  claiming  to  act  as  Consuls  for  foreign 
powers  in  the  Confederacy,  the  Secretary  of  State  submits  the  follow- 
ing remarks  : 

"  The  annexed  list,  marked  C,  shows  the  names  of  the  only  agents 
of  foreign  Governments  known  by  the  Department  within  the  limits 


of  the  Confederate  States,  All  of  tliese  agents,  except  one,  had  been 
recognized  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  bj  exequaturs  as 
the  duly  authorized  agents  of  foreign  Governments,  by  which  they 
were  respectively  appointed  at  a  period  antecedent  to  that  when  the 
several  Confederate  States  revoked  the  powers  previously  delegated  to 
the  United  States,  and  under  which  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  controlled  the  relations,  whether  diplomatic  or  commercial, 
which  grew  up  between  those  States  and  foreign  countries." 

The  Secretary  adds  : 

"  According  to  well  recognized  principles,  both  of  public  and 
private  law,  the  agents  of  foreign  governments,  having  been  recog- 
nized as  such  by  the  agent  of  the  several  Confederate  States  prior  to 
the  revocation  of  the  power  delegated  to  that  agent,  remain  so  recog- 
nized after  the  revocation.  It  was  and  is  undoubtedly  within  the  power 
of  this  Government,  as  it  is  vfithin  that  of  all  governments,  to  decline 
permitting  the  above  mentioned  agents  to  remain  within  our  limits; 
but  for  obvious  reasons  the  exercise  of  such  power  has  been  deemed 
unwise  and  impolitic.  It  is  known  to  the  Department  that  the  foreign 
Consuls  within  the  Confederacy  communicate  with  their  governments, 
in  Europe,  by  sending  despatches  to  the  care  of  the  Ministers  of 
their  respective  governments  residing  in  Washington,  and  this  De- 
partment has  thus  been  enabled,  on  different  occasions,  to  cause  cor- 
rect information  to  reach  foreign  countries  on  matters  which  it  was 
highly  important  to  the  public  interest  should  be  widely  disseminated 
and  properly  understood," 

The  undersigned  cordially  endorse  the  wisdom  of  these  suggestions, 
and  the  propriqey  of  the  policy  therein  indicated.  In  the  present  ir- 
regular condition  of  our  commercial  affairs,  arising  from  the  blockade 
of  our  ports,  these  persons  may  well  be  permitted  to  remain  at  their 
posts  without  strict  formality,  doing  no  harm  to  us,  and  often  affording 
channels  of  information  and  communication  which  we  might  not 
otherwise  readily  obtain.  The  few  truths  that  have  reached  Europe  of 
the  eventful  occurrences  of  t'.ie  Avar,  within  our  borders,  have  been 
communicated  through  these  persons — they  have  promptly  contra- 
dicted the  exaggerated  statements  of  our  foes — and  charity  compels 
us  to  suppose  that  while  some  of  them  may  be  unfriendly  to  us,  yet  a 
vast  majority  of  them  are  at  least  sufficiently  friendly  to  make  to  their 
respective  governments  the  most  favorable  and  impartial  reports  of  the 
actual  condition  of  things  within  the  Confederate  States. 

Wkile  we  admit  and  complain  that  the  powers  of  Europe  have  been 
slow  to  be  convinced  of  our  right  to  be  received  into  the  fraternity  of 
nations,  we  cannot  deny  that  they  advised  us  in  the  earliest  days  of 
our  struggle  that,  while  recognition  was  impossible  then,  still,  as  soon  as 
we  had  demonstrated  our  ability  to  maintain  the  independence  we  had  declared, 
we  should  be  recognized.  This  was  their  ultimatum.  They  had  a  right 
to  make  it.  They  are  the  judges.  We  must  bide  our  time.  Every 
nation  is  the  keeper  of  its  own  fortunes — the  dictator  of  its  own 
policy,  and  we  have  no  right  to  thrust  our  quarrels  upon  it.  It  Avould 
be  unbecoming  in  us  to  be  importunate,  especially  when  w^e  can  ap- 


proach  only  the  precincts  of  foreign  Courts,  for  importunity  in  claim- 
ing favors  is  the  basest  suppliancy. 

The  resolutions  of  the  House  further  inquire  how  far  the  agents 
aforesaid  have  been  officially  or  otherwise  recognized  by  foreign  gov- 
ernments ?  To  this  question  the  Secretary  gives  all  the  information 
contained  in  the  diplomatic  correspondence  now  in  the  Department. 

For  these  and  other  reasons,  the  undersigned  are  of  opinion  that 
the  communication  of  the  President,  in  answer  to  the  resolutions  of 
the  House,  contains  information  as  full  and  explicit  as  the  circum- 
stances authorized. 

We,  therefore,  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient,  at  this  time,  to  take  any  legisla- 
tive action  on  the  resolutions  originally  introduced  on  the  subject  of 
recalling  our  Commissioners,  and  dismissing  from  the  limits  of  the 
Confederacy  such  persons  as  arc  supposed  or  known  to  act  as  Consuls 
for  foreign  countries  in  the  Confederate  States. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted, 

W.  R.  SMITH, 
E.  BARKSDALE, 

JOHN  McQueen. 


RESOLUTION  OFFERED  BY  MR.  HARTRIDGE, 

As  a  Substitute  for  the  Repo-ts  of  the  Committee. 

Rcsolccd,  That  the  reports  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs 
and  the  resolution  of  inquiry  upon  which  they  are  based,  be  re-com- 
mitted to  the  said  Committee  with  instructions  to  report,  at  as  early  a 
day  as  possible,  a  joint  resolution  declai-ing  it  to  be  th-e  sense  of  this 
Congress  that  the  Commissioners  sent  to  certain  European  powers  by 
virtue  of  the  Acts  of  the  Provisional  Congress,  approved 

,  and  August  20th,  1861,  should  be  instructed  to  ask  of  the 
Governments  to  which  they  are  respectively  accredited,  an  immediate 
recognition'  of  the  independence  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America, 
and  upon  a  refusal  upon  the  part  of  said  Governments  of  such  recog- 
nition, or  a  failure  immediately  to  make  it  to  withdraw  from  such 
Governments  and  return  to  this  country;  also,  a  further  resolution 
declaring  it  to  be  the  sense  of  this  Congress  that  the  consular  agents 
of  Foreign  powers,  resident  in  the  Confederate  States,  should  not  be 
recognized  by  this  Government  as  having  any  of  the  functions  or 
powers  of  Consuls,  unless  accredited  to  and  receiving  exequaturs 
from  the  Government  of  the  Confederate  States. 


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